The ANC is to hold its KwaZulu-Natal provincial elective conference this weekend with Premier Sihle Zikalala, finance MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube and businessman Sandile Zungu vying for the chairperson position.
Dube-Ncube is hoping to be the province’s first woman chair and is said to have the support of the ANC Women’s League and some in the “radical economic transformation (RET) faction” of the party.
Others vying for the top position include former director-general of the province Nhlanhla Ngidi and MEC for transport and community safety and liaison Peggy Nkonyeni.
ANC insiders say the RET faction, allied to former president Jacob Zuma, is supporting both Dube-Ncube and Zungu and has as its base the powerful eThekwini region. With more than 111 branches and 100,000 members, the region elected corruption accused former mayor Zandile Gumede as its head in April. But she has had to step aside in line with party protocols that demand those charged with serious charges refrain from holding office until they are cleared.
KwaZulu-Natal is the ANC’s biggest province. It has the largest number of branches before Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Traditionally it has always been a powerful force and a deal breaker in ANC politics.
But it is now riddled with factions. At the Nasrec elective conference in 2017 candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma lost the contest to lead the party to Cyril Ramaphosa.
“It is clear that the eThekwini region is divided between Dube-Ncube and Zungu. In the past week though the Gumede camp has shown that it wants Zungu in at all costs, even as treasurer,” said a senior leader in the party who declined to be named.
Having Zungu in the provincial set-up will give Gumede an ally in the provincial structures while she deals with her corruption, fraud and money laundering trial. “But Dube-Ncube appears to be gaining and has branches on her side,” the leader said.
Political analyst Bheki Mngomezulu agrees Dube-Ncube is a strong contender and a threat to the front-runners given her political credentials. He said sudden “attempts” to tarnish her name shows she is a threat. At the weekend it emerged that the Hawks were questioning her about allegations linked to a 2019 matter when she was MEC for corporative governance and traditional affairs
“The contestation is no doubt fierce given what is at stake. Clearly she is really a threat if state resources are being used to get to her and given that she was twice denied the top post.
“She no doubt remains one of the most experienced politicians” added Mngomezulu.
The allegations refer to the misappropriation of flood relief funds of R220m. The monies were allegedly allocated to the department of agriculture & rural development. She said she at the time had no knowledge of the money and declared the allegations as being “unsubstantiated”.
“Dube-Ncube is a straight-up political leader and has not openly supported factions. She does have the support of the branches and Zuma’s support as he previously insisted she be given the job, but other leaders had their way and kept her out. Zungu’s trip to meet Zuma recently is seen by many as a public relations stunt,” added Mngomezulu.
Zikalala, chair and premier of the province, a main ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, is not given much chance with sources in the party saying they were not happy with his performance in the past five years.
ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela told Business Day Monday that all was on track.
“We anticipate that 680 branches from the region will send two delegates each to conference. At this stage we cannot confirm who is being nominated for what for what positions. What we can confirm is that we want to go into the conference as a united party.”
Political analyst Protas Madlala maintains that this is by far one of the most important conferences for the ANC.
“This is a make-or-break conference for the ANC that has lost so much ground in the region it once dominated. The RET faction has been lobbying widely and not just in KZN to pull its weight at the ANC elective conference in December.
“It’s clear that the region is divided between those who support former ANC president Zuma’s RET faction and those who support President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“However it is clear that the numbers who support Ramaphosa’s camp is at its lowest considering that nine of the 11 ANC regional conferences in KZN having gone the way of the so called RET faction close to former president Jacob Zuma,” he added.
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